The Murder of Mary Bean

Factory Island, Saco, ca. 1840

In 19th-century New England, the growth of textile factories propelled the industrial revolution. Beginning in the 1830s, mill managers recruited young women to leave their homes and work in the factories.

Young women -- native born, single, and in their late teens to early twenties -- comprised the majority of the labor force in the textile mills from the 1830s to the 1850s.

Worried parents were assured their daughters would be safe far from home, housed in company-owned boarding houses under the watchful eye of an older woman, often a widow, who ran the boardinghouse.

Strict rules and curfews would keep these daughters of New England safe from harm.

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Berengera Caswell [?], ca. 1849

With two of her sisters, Berengera Caswell (1828-1849), like thousands of young New England women, traveled to the textile factories seeking an independence and cash-paying work previous generations of women rarely experienced.

Girls in past generations spent their days spinning thread, weaving cloth, and making candles and other household products.

By the early 19th century in more settled areas, these goods were affordable and readily available for purchase. With less household tasks to do, factory work permitted young women to be an economic asset rather than an economic drain.

Spinning Room of Pepperell Mills, Biddeford, 1910

Berengera worked in the carding room of the Amoskeag mill in Manchester, New Hampshire, putting in 12-hour days and earning on average $3.25 per week.

Despite the long days, textile operatives enjoyed many evening activities including shopping, exhibitions, lectures, and strolling along the factory canals.

In the early summer of 1849, Caswell met a young machine operative named William Long. Their relationship became intimate over the summer – a behavior of which middle class moralists highly disapproved.

Homeopathic Medicine Box, Fryeburg, ca. 1850

Botanic physicians learned their craft from apprenticeships, books, or short courses.

These doctors favored herbal remedies and treatments much less harsh to the patient’s body.

Dr. James Smith was one of 10 physicians identified in the 1849 Saco Directory: two, including Smith, were botanic, one Thompsonian, and seven identified as allopathic. There were also several apothecaries and a dentist.

The number and diversity of medical providers reflects the intense competition in the health business at mid century.

Cover, 'Mary Bean or the Mysterious Murder,' 1851

Caswell’s death confirmed the worst fears of the middle class: that young women, who should have their eyes on marriage and motherhood, would suffer ill health, moral injury, and even death if they remained in the work force.

Sensational fiction profited on these fears by offering moralistic tales of naïve young women ruined at the hand of cruel seducers.

Berengera Caswell’s life and death became fodder for two such works, although the anonymous author of this tale took great liberties to make her story fit cultural expectations of innocent girls wronged by cads preying on unsupervised young women.

The moral of the story: to be safe, girls should remain at home.

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Cover, 'Confession of George Hamilton,' 1852

While young women were inevitably the victims in these salacious tales, young men were cautioned as well.

The new cities were seen as dangerous places where young men could be duped by “confidence men” who appeared to be mentors but were in reality focused only on dragging youth down a path of drunkenness, gambling and crime.

Stating that these sensational tales were published only to guide and protect impressionable youth, publishers churned out thousands of these tales, making good money on the latest “shocking crime” or “horrible tragedy.”

Pepperell Workers, Biddeford, ca. 1900

At mid century, ongoing labor strife and rising tension between mill owners and their increasingly savvy female work force led to a shift in the composition of mill workers.

By 1860, the majority of factory girls were foreign born and the native Protestant middle class society was less concerned with their fates. Mill owners paid this work force less and demanded more work of them as the textile industry became less profitable.

Following the upheaval of the Civil War, native born, middle class young women found new opportunities that took them from their homes, delayed marriage, and worried their parents.

Once again sensational fiction moralized on the dire consequences of this latest quest: attending college.